Friday, April 23, 2010

In June 2008, I was wondering around in Paris, trying to find a place to visit, after I'd done many major museums, churches, gardens, and chateaus.

While wandering in the city, I saw a poster of retrospective of a certain painter Peter Doig. The image was a melancholic young man or woman, sitting on a canoe, facing the viewer nonchalantly. Water below was dark and threatening. The atmosphere was tense. Immediately I was taken and rushed to Paris Museum of Modern Art for the exhibition, which completely blew me away with the scope, variety and intensive of his work.

In 2008, a major retrospective of his work (entitled "Peter Doig") was held at Tate Britain (February-May) and the Paris Museum of Modern Art (June-September) and the Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt (October 8-January , 2009).

Boat motif played a significant role in Doig's paintings. Lonely landscape claimed another big legacy of his work. But his works cover much broader ground, due to his wandering on the earth, perhaps. Most overwhelming elements of his paintings and drawings are the muted sadness and melancholy. It lingered with me for a long time.